The Blackberry Lane Blog

This blog runs alongside our Blackberry Lane website, mainly to keep you informed about changes that happen between our periodic updates on the main site, and also to give you an opportunity to give feedback.
From time to time, there may be some special offers, so check back soon!

Monday, 10 September 2018

If you use the Google Chrome internet browser (as we do) you will have noticed that the URL address bar now shows 'secure' or 'not secure' (near the top left hand corner of your screen).

Initially, the 'not secure' warnings only showed if the website had no security protection and there were 'fields' on the website which requested input like passwords or other personal details.

More recently, however, the warnings have started appearing on ALL unprotected sites, even if there are no fields which request input.

Our own website is unprotected, but this does not mean that your information is at risk.

Why not?

Simply because our site does not ask you for any information at all.

When you choose to buy any item from our site, you are taken to the PayPal website, which IS secure. PayPal takes your payment details and processes them, then notifies us of your name, email address, phone number and delivery address, plus (of course) details of what you have bought. NO OTHER information is passed to us.

So, please do not worry about visiting our site (or any other) which shows 'not secure'. Just make very certain that you are on a secure site whenever you are asked to input any personal information, especially regarding credit cards or other financial details.

Sunday, 29 July 2018

A few months ago, one of our customers asked us whether there was a left-handed version of the Ho-Mi. As a left-hander himself, Nick had found that the balance of the ordinary Large Ho-Mi didn't quite seem right.

We didn't know the answer, so we emailed the manufacturer in South Korea. Yes, he said, they DO make a left-handed version, but only in small numbers and only to order. The price would be a little higher as a result.

Then, a little later, he sent us a free sample of the left-handed Large Ho-Mi. So what did we do with it? Sent it to Nick, of course!

Nick's immediate response was "Initial impressions - weighting of the tool makes a lot more
sense, as it has a kind of twist to it that doesn't translate
when using in your off-hand." Sounds good to me!

So, we went ahead and ordered some and they arrived a few days ago.

So now, all of you right-handers who have been enjoying using your Large Ho-Mis and trying (maybe unsuccessfully) to get your left-handed friends to try them, you can point them to our Ho-Mi page where they can get one for themselves!When we told Nick about the new shipment of Left-Handed Ho-Mis, and that we had already had an enquiry from Germany, this was his response: "Thanks Dave,

Just to reiterate; the weighting of the tool makes this a pleasure to
use, particularly in raised beds - for those of us who like getting "up
close and personal" with things.

Definitely a perfect gift for the left-handed gardener who's fed-up of
using tools upside-down! Experiment with the grip to find the most
comfortable point - that's the best angle.

Glad to hear you've already had some interest. Nick"

P.S. Ironically, when we first started selling Ho-Mis, we were living on our narrowboat and so had no garden to try them out, so we gave one to some 'land-lubber' gardening friends to see how they liked it. Their response was a little lukewarm and we didn't understand why. We only found out later, once we had realised that Ho-Mis are 'handed', that both those friends are left-handed! Oops!

Thursday, 26 July 2018

In the last year or so, we seem to have had rather more customers contacting us about their Glaser stirrup Hoes, because the 10mm headless bolt has snapped that fixes the Oscillating Block of the Stirrup Hoe to the Wheel Hoe.

In this photo, you can see the 10mm bolt and the hexagonal socket for a 5mm Allen key is in the top.

The first thing to say about these bolts snapping is that USUALLY it seems to be caused by sudden stress on the bolt, which often results when the fixing nut has worked loose. So, first thing to do is to make sure that you tighten the nut every time you start to use the hoe. I often take a spanner with me if I am going to be doing quite a lot of heavy wheel-hoeing, just to make sure that I can keep it tight. If you don't expect to change your wheelhoe attachments very often, you may like to put a drop of thread-locking compound on the thread. Don't use superglue!!

So, the worst happens and the bolt breaks! No worries, we have a stock of replacement headless bolts here or you may be able to get them locally: ask for M10, 30mm long in high-tensile steel. On our website, they are on the 'Spare Blades' page and we have simply called them 'M10 Fixing Bolt (no nut)'.

The next problem is getting out the stub of the broken bolt. Quite tricky if it has broken just inside the block! Try removing the block from the hoe and drilling from the bottom, perhaps adding a drop of oil to help it move.

However, there is another solution, shown to us by Henry, who lives not far away from us in Devon. The fixing bolt on his Stirrup Hoe broke, but he found that the headless bolt had been fitted the other way up, with the Allen key socket downwards, so he was able to simply screw out the broken stub by inserting the Allen key from the bottom. Magic! Of course, a drop of oil could be useful here too, especially if your Stirrup Hoe has been in use for a long time.

So here is my suggestion to make it easier for you if your fixing bolt breaks in the future: reverse the bolt NOW so that the Allen key socket is reached from below.

First, loosen the large nut and the bolt, using a spanner and an Allen key.

Second, remove the Oscillating Block from the Stirrup Hoe by unscrewing the 'axle' bolt.

Third, remove the bolt and reverse it in its hole.

Fourth, tighten the bolt by inserting the Allen key from below and turning it anti-clockwise.

Fifth, replace the washer and nut.

Sixth, refit the Oscillating Block to the Stirrup Hoe.

It looks exactly the same, except that the Allen key socket is now hidden inside the Oscillating Block, making it easier if you ever need to remove a snapped bolt.

Since this useful conversation with Henry, we have checked our stock of Oscillating Blocks and some of the Stirrup Hoes. Some of the most recent stock already have the bolts reversed – looks like Glasers in Switzerland have come to the same conclusion !

I hope this helps a little. Thanks again to Henry for finding this useful piece of information.

Friday, 19 January 2018

We were delighted to be able to reduce the prices for our Korean Ho-Mis back in October, after we had been able to substantially reduce our import costs.

Now we have another reduction to announce, but only on the Large and Small Ho-Mis. Other Ho-Mi models remain at the same prices as in October – they are still very good value!

It happened like this . . .

Years ago, another importer used to sell Ho-Mis in the UK. He stopped selling them before we started, and in fact it was BECAUSE he had stopped that the South Korean manufacturer started looking for someone else to handle them. Our Australian contacts at Allsun Farm / Gundaroo Tiller were kind enough to suggest us, and we have been selling Ho-Mis ever since!

Just a few weeks ago, the former importer's son found himself with some stock of Large and Small Ho-Mis that he wanted to move on and (again through contact with Joyce at Allsun Farm) he came to us and offered them to us at a favourable price. Seems that his father had imported large numbers and so had been able to make even better savings on the import costs.

Now we have taken delivery and have a very large stock of Large and Small Ho-Mis at unrepeatable prices:–

Large Ho-Mis at £8.40 each (previously £11.60)Small Ho-Mis at £9.80 each (previously £11.50)

Yes, we know that looks odd! The Small Ho-Mis have always been cheaper than the Large ones, but this fresh stock is about 95% Large Ho-Mis, so we have made bigger savings on them.

When we eventually need to re-order from South Korea, the Large ones will be pricier than the Small but, until then, now is the opportunity to buy at LOVELY LOW PRICES !

Wednesday, 3 January 2018

Once again, we have a few damaged or shop-soiled Soil Blockers on offer. These all work perfectly, but have either suffered some damage in transit or (in one case) been mistreated.

First of all, one that has NOT been damaged at all! This is a Mini 4, finished in a dark green protective paint coating. Ladbrooke made some of these before they introduced the resin-coated option. It's a good buy at a slightly lower price than a standard Mini 4, and comes complete with 4 long ('dowel') seed pins as well as the standard short pins.

Number 2 is a standard new-style Mini 4 which suffered a slight dent in transit. The dent has been straightened, but you will still be able to see the 'scar'! Again, supplied with 4 long ('dowel') seed pins as well as the standard short pins.

£14.50 including UK postage SOLDEmail to buy

This third one is a real bargain! It's an old-style Mini 4 (the different handle is really the only difference). A customer managed to break it and then had the cheek to ask for a replacement! We were too trusting in those days and sent him one, but at least he returned the damaged one. Restored to full working condition with a little TLC, this will give you years of good service, but it is a little battle-scarred!

The price of these old-style Mini 4s was about £16.00, but

this one is £10.00 including UK postage Email to buy SOLD

And then, a couple of Mini 5s that got a little bent in transit but have now been 'unbent' and work perfectly.
Normal Price £17.00
These ones £13.00 each, including UK postageEmail to buy One Sold

Last of these bargain Soil Blockers is a Micro 20 with spots on the zinc-plated finish. Perfect in every other respect.

Normal price £15.10
This one: £12.50 including UK postageEmail to buy SOLD

NOT ILLUSTRATED, we have a few SAALET Easy Sowers with damaged cardboard boxes. These got a little wet on the outside, but there is no damage to the Seeders. Normal price £19.45, these are reduced at £16.00 each, including UK postage Email to buy Two SoldEmail us to buy any of these specials . . . When they're gone, they're gone!
We will update this page as soon as any of these are sold.
Please email us with any questions, on blackberrylane.co.uk@gmail.com

Saturday, 9 December 2017

Right back in 2010, when Malcolm first contacted us about possibly selling BroadForks, one of the first hurdles was to find suitable handles for them. We started by recommending the 1.5m (5ft) handles made for a particular type of 'Post Hole Digger'. They fitted OK, but straight away there seemed to be a big problem with availability, so we looked around for alternative sources.

Soon we found that we couldn't easily get 5ft ash poles of the right diameter, so we had to settle for 1.2m (4ft) and then spent quite a bit of time shaping the ends of these to fit the BroadForks. Along the way, we also changed suppliers!

After a little while, the new supplier in Wales offered to make a handle that was shaped to fit the BroadForks, and was also a little bit 'contoured' – and so our 'Shaped' BroadFork handles appeared in September 2016.

At the same time, we were looking for ash handles for hand tools in the Glaser range, as more and more customers were telling us how difficult it was to find 28mm handles in ash. Not many years ago, we could just walk into our local hardware/DIY shop and buy ordinary 'broom handles', which were always made of ash wood. Now the only thing we could find were rather poor quality pine handles, which were light and tended to split very easily. We started stocking and selling these, simply because it seemed that nothing else was available.

1.2m BroadFork handles. Top: 'shaped' Bottom: 'plain'

Eventually, early in 2017, we found a supplier in Yorkshire for good quality ash handles and began offering them on our website, which started a steady trickle of orders which still continues . . .

High levels of demand for BroadForks, combined with delays in the supply of the shaped handles, led to us asking this new supplier whether he could produce some for us. He could, and quite quickly, so our 'Plain' BroadFork handles soon became available, giving the customer a choice.

The problem with all of these handles is the high cost of sending them by post or carrier, so we always suggest that customers try to find ash handles locally. The increasing number of orders makes us realise, though, that they remain difficult to find anywhere!

In the last few weeks, the process seems to have come full circle, as a customer enquired about 5ft handles for his BroadFork. A quick email to our Yorkshire supplier and now we have a supply of 5ft plain ash handles for BroadForks! Useful if you are a bit taller, or just want the extra leverage.

A quest for longer 28mm handles seems to have started as well. In response to a customer request, in July 2017 we bought in a supply of 1.8m (6ft) x 28mm handles. Initially, we did not offer these on the website because of the scary postage costs, but recently another customer has enquired about them and wants to order some. He just can't find them anywhere else! So, we thought, there may be more folk out there with the same needs – so they are on the website, too! Useful, perhaps, for a rake or just for longer-reach hoeing.

Tools on Special Offer!

After nearly six years of living on board our narrowboat (and managing the tools business as we travelled!), in early January 2013 we returned to 'dry land' in Lapford in rural mid-Devon.

We have done quite a bit of work on the bungalow and took advantage of 2013's lovely summer to make a start on the gardens and field. We made enough progress to re-start market gardening again in 2014.

There is still a LOT to do, but we are taking it a step at a time . . .

. . . and the stock of tools is now a little easier to find, not hidden away in nooks and crannies on the boat!